Early Risers.

[polybear]

Bear here.....

Wallpapering....

Bear gone.

[jamie92208]

Good moaning from a village by the water. This scribes disenfranchised by the B word but can still vote in parliamentary elections in the UK. My late great aunts were adamant that I should vote. They had all been suffragists, anyway another good day was had yesterday. No 2 sonand daughter plus of course 0partners and granddaughter all had a meal together.today I'm off toYork to see my brother road closures permitting. This evening yet another meal out with Beth's brothers and their wives.  It's hard work.  Jamie

 

[jjb1970]

I suppose one positive of all this talk about elections is it motivated me to register as an overseas voter for Parliamentary elections.

[grandadbob]

Good morning all,

The Back reporting in as requested by GDB.  He has asked me to let you know that I'm still being a bit of a pain but not  quite as much as yesterday.  He is currently trying to catch up on reading all the posts he's missed and hopes to return here later on.

 

[PhilJ W]

2 hours ago, Barry O said:

Ey up!

 

To the Back and Hip, thank you for giving us the support by giving GDB pain. Despite cortisone jabs and exercises we too are making sure that he knows we are here. Long live the cold and damp!

 

Yours infriendship,

Baz hip and back.

 

20 minutes ago, grandadbob said:

Good morning all,

The Back reporting in as requested by GDB.  He has asked me to let you know that I'm still being a bit of a pain but not  quite as much as yesterday.  He is currently trying to catch up on reading all the posts he's missed and hopes to return here later on.

 

Arthur Itis here, me and my oppo, Si Attica are having a field day with GDB and Baz as well as with Phil J/W. However all good things have to come to an end and will do when the warm and drier weather arrives.

Edited March 27, 2023 by PhilJ W

[TheQ]

1 hour ago, jjb1970 said:

 

I take it you've never been to Newcastle or South Shields then?🤣🤣🤣

There are always exceptions, I remember going to a ship that had an on board disco, restaurant etc tied up on the Tyne in the 1980s for a Christmas section dinner. Those meter maids pictured above would be over dressed as disco inhabitants...

 

Mooring Awl,

Fell asleep early, book on chest, woke an hour later just to remove book. 4 hours after that, woke to heavy hail hitting the windows. Thereafter had a very bad night forepaws and undercarriage very painful. 

Right ankle and left knee, very stiff and ouch going down stairs.

 

Boating glossary ,

Bowsprit,.   Sticky out bit of wood at the front of a boat.

Mudweight, lump of metal attached to a rope or chain attached to the boat. To stop it drifting away on the Norfolk Broads.

Jib, forward triangular sail, sometimes attached to a bowsprit, or hull, and part or all the way up the mast.

Sail, an expensive bit of cloth.

Jib boom, even more sticky out bit of wood, mounted on top of the bowsprit .

Jib club, bit of wood or metal attached to the foot of the forward sail. If you are standing on the foredeck and it hits you, you'll know why it's called a club.

Foredeck, level bit of boat above the waterline, forward of the mast..

Waterline, level at which a boat floats in the water 

Jib sheets bits of rope attached to the rear bottom corner of the jib, to put it where you want.

Luff, front edge of a sail,

Leach , aft edge of sail,

Foot, bottom edge of sail,

Mast, long bit of wood, aluminium or if you are rich carbon fibre that holds the sails up.

Shrouds, bits of wire that stop the mast falling over the side.

Boom, bit of wood attached the the bottom of the mainsail,

Mainsail, An even more expensive bit of cloth, Normally triangular these days. But have been 4 sided in the past.

Oats, something the English feed horses. But the Scots eat for breakfast.

Downhaul, piece of string attached to the bottom forward corner of the main sail to stop it riding up the mast.

Outhaul, another bit of string to stop the mainsail riding forward on the boom.

Halyard, from haul yard, to pull a yard or sail up a mast.

Yard, bit of horizontal wood to hang a sail from when using square or oblong sails.

Mainsheet attached to the middle or back of the boom, and a horse. To put main sail in correct position.

Bacon butty, essential sustenance, to enable sailing.

Horse, a metal bar, or rope string normally across the back of the boat, to which the main sheet is attached, via a block.

Block, formally a bit of wood, these days fibre reinforced plastic holder for a sheave.

Sheave, a wheel with a grove round it's outside edge through which a rope slides.

Tiller, sticky out bit of wood or metal, which is attached to a rudder shaft, in order to steer a boat.

Rudder shaft, bit of metal that goes through hull of boat in a tube. Attached to rudder, beneath boat.

Rudder, bit of wood or metal or fibreglass, or carbon fibre, sometimes filled with foam to redirect water with.

Transom, wall or aft end of boat, cross piece of wood or fibreglass.

Bilge, the bottom on the boat which collects water or drunken sailors.

Keel, bit of wood, / metal / fibreglass / lead, that hangs beneath the boat for two reasons, 1 to stop it falling over. 2 to provide lateral resistance.

Lateral resistance, something that stops the boat sliding sideways over the water.

Dillet. A forward projection from a keel at it's top to reduce disruptive water flow, if you want to learn the details of that, I'd recommend a degree in marine hydrodynamics from Southampton university.

Hull, large pieces of wood, or fibreglass or metal, to which all of the above are directly or indirectly attached.

Broads, 136 miles of navigable waterways in Norfolk and Suffolk, the wide bits are man made flooded peat cuttings called Broads, they are connected by rivers and dykes.

Broads authority, a state organised tax collection agency. Supposedly in charge of the broads, what ever they say, the law says they are NOT in charge of a national park.

The 3 Rivers Race, the greatest long distance passage sailing race in Europe.

3rd / 4th June 2023, this year. 

 

Horning regatta week, 29 July to 4th August 2023, this has been running since at least 1908, and probably many years before that.

A family event competitors from 8 years old to over 100 years old. In boats from 8 ft long to over 40 ft long. Held on the River at Horning, by the Swan Inn if you wish to watch. Next door to Horning Staithe, mentioned in Arthur Ransome's, in the Swallows and Amazon series. In books "The Coot Club" and "The Big Six".

 

 

 

Both the above involve racing to the International Racing Rules for Sailing, which are here.

 

https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&source=web&rct=j&url=https://www.sailing.org/tools/documents/WSRRS20212024FinalwithChgsandCorrecns201113-%5B26798%5D.pdf&ved=2ahUKEwityrDo1vv9AhWTdcAKHVrsCaoQFnoECA0QAQ&usg=AOvVaw3sSpljSIwNtK5mjZ0HeKFk .

As modified by the broads regulations which here.

https://www.broads-authority.gov.uk/boating/navigating-the-broads/byelaws-and-speed-limits

 

 

Have I bored you yet?

Anyway I'm off to do some filling and sanding of the under stairs.

Time to move..

 

 

 

 

[PhilJ W]

Morning all from Estuary-Land. The arthritis and sciatica were grumbling this morning but stopped when I started moving around. Despite this I managed to get a few more hours sleep in but not enough so more eyelid inspection is required.

[jjb1970]

I am re-adjusting back to Asian food after a week in England, dinner last night was chicken karaage with fried rice, lunch today Korean buldak noodles and tonight should be Singaporean laksa. It's funny, I really look forward to British comfort food when I go back home, then when I come back out here am happy to get back to Asian food. Variety is the spice of life and all that I suppose.

[BSW01]

Good morning everyone 

 

A bright, sunny and no cloud start to the day here in the northwest corner of England, but it’s a lot cooler than of late, currently 1C out there! My first task of the day is to complete the Sainsbury’s Grand Prix, this will be followed by a second Grand Prix at Waitrose , but this will be after dinner. Nottalotelse planned for the day.

 

Back later. 
 

Brian

[New Haven Neil]

Morning, from a coughy and knackered Fraggle.  Feeling a bit better, just sound like a demented foghorn.

 

Speaking of matter maritime, Q's list was interesting, but did trigger this thought.

 

Engine - invented so we wouldn't need all that rope and old bedsheets.

 

Burmeister & Wain, 98cm bore, 102 rpm, 30,000 shp.  Less parts than Q's boat!

 

Ironically there's a lot of work going on now about wind assistance for merchant vessels, I actually recall seeing one back in my day in Japan, they were ahead of the game but ignored back then.

 

[jjb1970]

The only B&W engines I worked with had hydraulic exhaust valves, excellent engines. I found it quite striking how engines could differ between who manufactured them. For those not familiar with big engines, they're designed by engine companies - MAN (formerly B&W), WinGD (formerly Sulzer, and Wartsila for a few years) and Mitsubishi but manufactured by licensees. Almost all of which are now in China, the Republic of Korea or Japan. I always found MSE (Mitsui) MAN-B&W engines the best of the breed, and DU (now IHI I think) Sulzers the best of that breed (though Mitsubishi also built superb Sulzer engines).

[monkeysarefun]

I remember seeing the Club Med 1 ( now the Windstar Windship apparently) birthed in Tahiti when I was there.

[Barry O]

Been to the fang puller. While gainfully employed eating lobster for Chinese New year I have damaged my back tooth. She reckons I either to get the filling changed or.... a full removal......

 

 

Something for the sweet toothed among you..

 

 

Baz

Edited March 27, 2023 by Barry O

[polybear]

34 minutes ago, Barry O said:

Something for the sweet toothed among you..

 

 

Baz

 

Looks good.....a lot better than the price of it I suspect.....

[Barry O]

14 minutes ago, polybear said:

 

Looks good.....a lot better than the price of it I suspect.....

It wasn't too expensive by Australian standards...

 

Baz

[BoD]

2 hours ago, TheQ said:

There are always exceptions, I remember going to a ship that had an on board disco, restaurant etc tied up on the Tyne in the 1980s for a Christmas section dinner. Those meter maids pictured above would be over dressed as disco inhabitants...

The Tuxedo Princess.

 

Many’s the …….      
 

…. no, best not go there.

[DaveF]

A beautiful sunny day on the Northumberland coast though there was a frost and the wind is very cold.  It certainly woke me up when I opened the back door.

 

Yesterday I woke just after 07.00 after a rather poor night's sleep, did all the usual e mails and phone calls and went off to church.  It was my turn to do one of the readings, I managed to read the correct passage and didn't make any mistakes.  On the way home I drove past the beach but didn't stop as I was ready for my coffee and it was dull and damp.  Lunch was a ready prepared pulled pork - for some reason the pack had 50% more meat than it should, it weighed a lot more than it said on the packet.  It was followed by apple pie and custard.  I wonder if that was why I fell asleep during the afternoon while I was checking the new pillows again.

 

Later in I had the usual phone call from my aunt and watched the boat races.  I always support Cambridge as many of my relatives went there , though I went to Manchester instead.  After tea it was still light so I went out in the garden and did some more tidying.  A few minutes after I came back indoors there was a heavy snow shower.

 

Then it was the usual TV and book until an early bedtime - at least it would have been early but I had a couple of emails about my photos to answer.

 

David

 

 

[Sidecar Racer]

1 hour ago, Barry O said:

Been to the fang puller. While gainfully employed eating lobster for Chinese New year I have damaged my back tooth. She reckons I either to get the filling changed or.... a full removal......

 

 

Something for the sweet toothed among you..

 

 

Baz

 

 That's a very nice table decoration ,  where's the food ????

[grandadbob]

A'noon all,

I am in hobbling mode after a very painful and not very mobile day yesterday. 

Caught up with most things here but avoided the politicking discussion.

Saturday was a good day (apart from watching Quins lose but I'm used to that this season).  Friends from next door came in for a meal and drinks and an excellent time was had by all. They went home about 01.00 and I then decided to have another nightcap and managed to fall asleep slouched in the armchair.  That probably contributed to my back problem.  I woke up at 02.00 which of course by then was actually 03.00.  Went to bed and woke up at 09.00 and as I tried to get up that's when I seized up.  Spent the day trying to get comfortable, I often get back and hip pain but yesterday it went through the roof however a combination of painkillers, brandy (yes, I know, probably not advisable but it helped)  and hot water bottles eventually eased things.  Still not 100% but nowhere near as bad. 

Steve & Nick  started their 2 day 5 train trip home from Italy but it went pear-shaped when they got to Turin.  There was a one under incident up the line so they were delayed for 4 hours and spent over 9 hours on that leg.  The only good thing is they can claim for a 75% refund as the delay was over 3 hours.  They also received a "meal assistance" box containing water, juice, crisps, biscuits and a meal.  They just managed (by two minutes) to get their (rearranged) Eurostar connection in Paris so eventually got home about 21.00 hrs.  Steve has travelled abroad quite a lot but he said Assisi is up there with the best of the places he's been to.  

Plenty of drilling noise in next door's garden, a new fence is being erected at the end and it seems there's quite a bit of concrete in the way of the new posts.

I'm told that it will soon be time for lunch so farewell for now.

Have a good one,

Bob.

 

Edited March 27, 2023 by grandadbob

[Gwiwer]

6 hours ago, Ozexpatriate said:

The proliferation of minor parties in Australia is a direct result of the existence of preferential voting

There can be a quite large number of candidates. Some ballot papers are more like books. 
 

I honestly don’t know enough about all of, let’s say, 17 candidates or their policies to sensibly rank preferences from 1 to 17. Do I care more about person 13 than 14?  Why?  That low in the rankings does it really matter?  So there may be an element of placing a 1 against your favourite, a 17 against your “never in my lifetime” and either randomly or consecutively numbering all the rest. 
 

Is that what is intended by the system?  No. 
 

Or I can vote by party. But therein lies an additional level of complexity. 
 

With first-past-the-post the minor parties and independents seldom stand much chance but they are effectively de-selected by the electorate. If most who voted wanted a Green Party candidate they would have more seats than they do. 
 

But it only requires one X on a simple ballot paper. No genitalia. Possibly not even time to draw them because you’re in and out in (usually) moments. 

It has, incidentally, been decreed within Australia that an otherwise correctly-completed ballot paper shall not be deemed invalid if it also contains such “artwork”.   An incorrectly filled paper may, however, cost you $20 for an invalid vote, whether festuring “artwork” or not. 
 

 

 

[monkeysarefun]

1 minute ago, Gwiwer said:

An incorrectly filled paper may, however, cost you $20 for an invalid vote, whether festuring “artwork” or not. 

You need to stop writing your name and address on your incorrectly filled out ballot paper!

[Tony_S]

3 minutes ago, monkeysarefun said:

You need to stop writing your name and address on your incorrectly filled out ballot paper!

Each issued ballot paper here is traceable to the person at least claiming to be the voter. Your ballot is secret at the time of voting but not after counting. 

Edited March 27, 2023 by Tony_S

[Gwiwer]

3 minutes ago, monkeysarefun said:

You need to stop writing your name and address on your incorrectly filled out ballot paper!

That or my standard of artwork needs improving 🤣

 

 

[tigerburnie]

4 hours ago, grandadbob said:

Good morning all,

The Back reporting in as requested by GDB.  He has asked me to let you know that I'm still being a bit of a pain but not  quite as much as yesterday.  He is currently trying to catch up on reading all the posts he's missed and hopes to return here later on.

 

Get some Piroxicam 0.5% gel, you'll need a prescription but it works, I have three discs in my lower spine that have no cartilage left in them, walking bone on bone seemingly.

[New Haven Neil]

3 hours ago, jjb1970 said:

The only B&W engines I worked with had hydraulic exhaust valves, excellent engines. I found it quite striking how engines could differ between who manufactured them. For those not familiar with big engines, they're designed by engine companies - MAN (formerly B&W), WinGD (formerly Sulzer, and Wartsila for a few years) and Mitsubishi but manufactured by licensees. Almost all of which are now in China, the Republic of Korea or Japan. I always found MSE (Mitsui) MAN-B&W engines the best of the breed, and DU (now IHI I think) Sulzers the best of that breed (though Mitsubishi also built superb Sulzer engines).

 

That one's a 8K98F.  The English Bridge, later the Kowloon Bridge of Irish shipwreck fame.  My dad stood by her building in Haverton Hill as 2/E/O, having just been on a long course at B&W learning the engine.  B&W were new to Bibby's at the time.  The two big ones, that and the Liverpool Bridge/Derbyshire were 'problematic' to be polite. it would be easy to be less than polite.....

 

The smaller bore versions seemed OK from what I was told, I never sailed on one of those but was on both the big 'uns.  The best Sulzer I sailed on was a Mitsubishi, yes!